Determining the appropriate Volume

At the beginning of the school year, you can start by using end-of-year report card NUM scores to determine a short list of students. The ERC Grade Received Report can be run by a building administrator. (Set the Grade Received to "1,2" and the Standard to "MATH-Number".)

NOTE: Report card scores are very limited and do not tell us very much about what students do and do not feel confident in. This must be paired with gathering additional information about the student.

Talk with the previous year's teacher(s) to learn about students' areas of strength and growth. These discussions may include the previous classroom teacher, Special Education teacher, EDAS teacher, EL Level 1 teacher, etc.

Gathering this anecdotal information can help you determine a common area of need for a small group of students. Students must be grouped by the mathematical concept they need, not by arbitrary labels like "high" or "low". Use this broad information to select a Volume and then administer that placement assessment.

Tier 2 interventions can include strengthening students' understanding of prior grade-level content. Doing so prepares students for engaging with grade-level content in Tier 1 with their classroom teacher.

NOTE: This is different than the traditional "pre-teaching" approach in which students practice grade-level skills prior to engaging with the learning in Tier 1. Students need the opportunity to grapple with mathematical ideas in both Tier 1 and Tier 1+ prior to receiving instruction in a Tier 2 intervention group.

Determine the upcoming Math Expressions unit students will be working on in Tier 1 (at the beginning of the school year you may opt to support Unit 1). Use the document linked below to identify the corresponding Bridges Intervention volume(s) that include prior grade-level content.

See the Directions tab in the document below for detailed guidance on how to use this tool. This includes information on how to use the placement assessment results to determine an appropriate instructional starting and stopping place.